Sugar cane growers beat the cold for one of most bountiful crops in history

9:31 PM,
Jan. 10, 2014

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Despite the week's deep freeze and a bitter cold snap in November, Louisiana State University AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry said the state would have one of its most bountiful sugar cane crops in history. That doesn't mean the most profitable; sugar prices are low.

"Most of the farmers were able to get their cane out of the fields and to the mills before the stalks were frozen," Guidry said.

A sugar cane stalk splits when it freezes, causing some juice to ooze out, similar to how a can of juice left in a freezer may split and leak. This freezing and leaking decreases the amount of sugar a ton of stalks ...